Against all odds
by kykyxstandler
Summary: Before Milah, Killian lost the love of his life, or so he thought. Hook/OC
1. Part of that world

Chapter 1:

The sound of rustling outside my cell door is what awoke me from my light slumber. What's going on? We just finished supper a little while ago. Is it already morning? The rustling went on for a while as if the person was trying to find out which key went in the knob. Weird… I decided to sit in my 'bed' and waited. After a while the door open and instead of that severe nurse that always brought me to the 'cafeteria' to eat/'social time', it was my friend Anna (my only friend in this hell hole) and with her there was a male nurse, I didn't get to see much of him because she ran to give me a hug.

''Anna what's going on?'' I asked her, surprise she was allowed to visit my cell. It's never happened before.

She released me from the hug but held me at arms length to tell me what was going on. She looked behind her, I looked at the man behind her as well and when our eyes met I could see recognition and shock in his blue eyes. He also had this big scar all around his neck. Strange… She then looked back at me. ''This is Jefferson and he came to release us.'' She told me in her French accent smiling but then her face grew somewhat darker as she said: ''He said that Regina is the one that locked me up and that Mr. Gold will protect me.'' But then her face turned somewhat uneasy and she asked Jefferson: ''Jefferson, do you think this Mr. Gold would help Eleanor too?''

Snapping out of his shock he answered: ''Don't worry Anna, I'll take care of Eleanor here.'' I smiled, I don't know why but I felt safe going with this stranger, I figured it can't be worst than here. ''Now ladies we should probably get going…'' And with that we put on the jackets he gave us and made our way to the entrance of this prison. As we were about to leave I saw who I expected to see earlier at my door, at her desk, asleep. We then made our way to Jefferson's turquoise car and hopped in. We were silent throughout the ride. He dropped Anna off in front of Mr. Gold's pawn shop.

I got out of the car with her and hugged her. ''We'll see each other again soon, okay?'' I told her once we finished hugging.

''Yes, of course. I can't believe we're finally free.'' I smile then hugged her again. Yes it felt incredible finally being able to go outside and just be free to go and do as we pleased.

''I'll come see you soon, alright?'' She nodded and went inside the shop while I got back in the car. Then Jefferson took me back to his home or should I say palace? It was almost as big as the hospital Anna and I stayed in. ''Wow, this is huge.'' I said wonderstruck. But then I wondered why was he doing this? I gave a soft sigh, then turned to him and asked: ''Why did you save me, us? And then offered to take me in. Not that I'm not grateful it's just…'' I left the question hanging not knowing how to finish it.

''Because a long time ago a stranger saved me and then we became friends…'' He got out of the car and said: ''And I don't abandon my friends…''He said that last part so softly I almost didn't hear it. What he said didn't make sense but whatever. I made my way up the stairs of this manor after him. He unlocked the door and went inside, as I was about to follow him I felt a pulse go through me and I stopped in my tracks.

-XOXOXOXOXOX-

I was swimming far away from our lagoon, when I saw a figure struggling to go deeper under the sea, as I approached I saw it was a man. A human man! What is a human man doing this deep under the sea? My sisters always told me to stay far away from humans, especially human men. They say they're all dangerous and cruel and plain evil. But seeing this man practically drowning, they couldn't be that dangerous if they're that defenseless. And so I dived deeper to where he was and dragged him to shore. He was still conscious but barely.

''Why did you do that?'' He asked me frustrated but tiredly. ''I was almost there.'' How rude! Here I just saved his life and instead of thanking me he just rants. I started to leave annoyed with him but he stopped me: ''Wait.'' I turned around and looked at him. ''I'm sorry. Thank you for saving me but I really needed to get that ink and it's just frustrating that I couldn't make it.'' Ink? I looked at him curiously with my head cocked to the side. ''Let's start over, my name's Jefferson.''

''Ariel.'' He gave me a small smile.

''Well Ariel it was nice to meet you but I really must go back to get that ink.'' He tried to stand but fell back on his butt. I let out a small giggle.

''You know you won't be able to get it right? You'll either give up or you'll end up drowning. Or the Kraken will kill you.'' I told him seriously.

He looked at me a moment. ''I don't suppose you would be willing to do it for me?'' He asked sheepishly. I giggled.

''And why would I do that? I already saved your life, isn't that enough?''

''Well is there something you would like?'' He asked me as he made his way toward where his clothes were in the sand. I started to think about it. I'm a mermaid there's not much we need if anything. He was almost done getting dressed when the sun reflected on something shiny attached to his vest.

''Whoa, what's that?'' I asked pointing at the small round object in question. He looked down at his vest then took it out with a small smile on his face. He then showed it to me.

''That's a pocket watch. It tells you the time.'' He then put it in my hands so that I could observe it more. ''Tell you what you get me that ink and you can keep it.''

''I don't want it.'' I say as I give it back to him. He makes a small frown at that. ''On the other hand, if you can tell me more about your world and about things like this pocket watch, you get yourself a deal.'' He smiled and shook my hand.

''Deal.'' He handed me a little vial. I took it with a small smile and dived back under. Okay, first I need to go get a small bunch of Noctiluca scintillans and put them in a shell. I found an empty shell on a coral reef and not that far from there I found those blue glowing little jelly balls and put some in the shell and closed it. I then went deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper until I could spot the Kraken, from which this special ink Jefferson needs is coming from.

Once I could see the sea beast I treaded carefully closer to it. Once I was close enough I released the Noctiluca scintillans and the giant squid had the exact reaction I was hopping for, it got scared and released some ink to get away. I think that's the only thing this big cephalopod is scared of, light. As soon as I saw the ink I crept closer with the vial to catch some. As if the vial was enchanted or something, it started to suck all the ink in the water into it. Weird… Once I was done I made my way back to Jefferson with it.

''Ah, you're back. I was starting to worry.'' I gave him the ink and he started telling me about things like telescopes, candles, fires, forks, compass and lots of other wonderful things I never heard of. It was great but we didn't stop at that he told me about his wife Alice and their 1 year old daughter Grace. He also told me about the different worlds he visited it was fascinating. I told him about my sisters and all the things I found in abandoned ships at the bottom of the sea, also about my desire to go explore the world like him but at the same time not wanting to leave my family. At the end of the day when it was time for him to leave we became great friends and I was sad to see him leave, but that's the way things go I suppose.

When I got home that night my sisters asked me what I did and when I told them I helped a human they were so angry it was incredible. ''Ariel are you insane? A human, who knows what he could have done to you. You could have been killed or worse… Maybe this one wasn't evil but most of them are trust me…'' Tritanne the oldest said in a bitter tone. She's the one that hate humans the most since she's the only one that remembers her life before being a mermaid. After a while I tuned them out, it was getting annoying. Instead I started thinking, humans aren't so bad, well at least Jefferson wasn't and the lost boys aren't bad either, well they're kids but that still count, right? I need to know more about them. As I went to sleep that night I couldn't help wondering what it would be like to be human, to have legs, to explore the world like Jefferson and maybe fall in love…

* * *

A couple of weeks passed with nothing new, I spend my days with my sisters in the mermaid lagoon singing and tanning or exploring the ocean floor in search of human things without much luck.

One night, I was swimming not very deep, when I saw the hull of a ship above me. The first thought that crossed my mind was, humans! I could finally see if I was right about humans and the fact that they might not all be bad. But I still kept my sisters warning in mind as I crept closer to see them, being careful not to be seen. That's when I saw him.


	2. Strange and beautiful

Chapter 2: Strange and beautiful – Aqualungs:

Everything came back to me, every memory came back in a flash and it was painful. Not physically but emotionally, it was painful because I remembered him. I tried so hard to forget everything we had and for a while it was just a small throbbing at my heart, now the pain is as sharp as when it happened.

-XOXOXOXOXOX-

''Ariel aren't you coming with us to the lagoon?'' Asked my sister Attina when she saw me leave the castle the opposite way.

''Actually I was going to go look for things.''

''But it's as if your only doing this, these past few days.'' She says pouting slightly. Time to think fast Ariel.

''Yeah, it's just I haven't found much lately so I just…'' She cut me off before I had time to finish.

''Alright just be back before the storm hit. Oh and be careful there's a ship in the cannibal's cove, so stay clear of there, unless you want to drown them, ha ha. If you need us you know where we'll be.'' With that she left.

''Bye.'' I said, even though she was already gone. Well, it went better than I thought. I then made my way straight to the cannibal's cove.

Once I was within reach of the ship I propped myself up on its side. I was hopping to see the beautiful blue eyed, black haired man that was giving orders to the other humans but the ship was deserted. Where could they be? I let myself fall back in the water and looked around. That's when I saw the mini boats on the beach. So that's where they disappeared to. Well that's a bummer, I thought while pouting slightly.

Maybe I should go see my sisters. Before I could finish that sullen thought I saw them, the men of the ship, getting back in the mini boats, laughing. I dived fast under and watched the boats hulls approach the ship to get hauled up. Once the last boat was up I went back up and looked, there was still one boat on the beach. I got back on the side of the ship and searched the deck for the blue eyed man. He wasn't there. He must still be on shore.

I flopped back in the water and kept a look out for him. The sky started to get grey, the wind picked up. I should go home, the storm is coming. Just as I was about to make my way home I saw him get in the boat and row towards the ship. Thunder erupted and the waves grew in intensity. I watched as a big one crashed his boat as he was about to reach the ship, sinking it with him aboard.

I swam as fast as I could towards him and dragged him to shore. Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive. Once there I dropped him and fell on his chest. Water gushed out of his mouth and he started to breathe again. His eyes fluttered open and he was even more beautiful up close than I thought possible. He reached out his hand towards my face and said: ''You saved…'' He passed out before his hand reached my face.

I started playing with his hair absently while singing softly.

''I've been watching your world from afar,

I've been trying to be where you are,  
And I've been secretly falling apart,  
I'll see.''

The storm was settling down. The sun started to peek out from beneath the clouds.

''To me, you're strange and you're beautiful,  
You'd be so perfect with me but you just can't see,  
You turn every head but you don't see me.''

He gently pried his eyes open and gazed at me. ''Hi, beautiful.'' He said barely audible.

''Hi.'' I replied smiling slightly.

He was about to say something, when we heard in the distance. ''Captain! Captain Jones!'' He turned towards the sound of the voice and I rapidly dashed back in the water. With a dreamy smile on my face I made my way back home.

-XOXOXOXOXOX-

I was so lost in thoughts I failed to notice a purple mist pass all around me. Some tears escaped my eyes as I made my way inside in a sort of trance. I somehow ended up in the kitchen and sat at the dinner table looking out the back door window, lost in memory lane. I don't know how long I just sat there.

I suddenly heard: ''Ariel, I would like you to meet my wife Alice.'' I turned around startled and was met by my friend, Jefferson, the man I saved in Neverland and the one who saved me here in the asylum. He was holding hand with a pretty blonde woman with green questioning eyes. ''Alice this is Ariel, you remember when I told you about the mermaid that saved me and helped me acquire the special ink, a witch needed. Well that's her.'' He told his wife who then got a big smile on her face, she gave him a small kiss on the lips then let go of his hand and stepped up to me. ''I'll go make us some lunch.'' With that Jefferson disappeared in the kitchen.

She took a seat on the chair beside me and started asking me questions about my life here and telling me about hers. Then we started talking about our life before the curse. I tried to speak as little as possible so as not to remember the memories I was trying to forget. I was grateful for the distraction it kept the heartache at bay and Alice had a lot to say about her life. She was telling me about her sister Snow who she thought was dead in the enchanted forest but now she saw her here so she can't wait to talk to her again and then she told me how she got separated from Jefferson, ended up in Neverland and that while she was there, her daughter that was 2 is now 10. She was telling me about her fears of seeing her again, scared that her daughter might hate her.

''Don't worry I'm sure that when she'll see you she'll be overjoyed to get both of her parents back.'' I said with a warm smile.

''Seitan souvlaki gyros with tzatziki sauce. I hope you don't mind vegan food, Ariel.'' Jefferson said as he came out of the kitchen with 2 plates that he placed in front of me and Alice.

''What's vegan food?'' I asked confused.

He gave me a gentle smile. ''It's food that doesn't come from animals.''

''Oh, yeah, sure it's fine.'' He then went back in the kitchen and came back with a plate for himself. He then sat across from Alice and they ate while looking lovingly at each other. I took a small bite and fell in love with how good it was.

When we were done eating, Jefferson gave me a tour of the house and gave me a room, he also told me that I could stay here for as long as I liked, which I appreciated greatly since I had nowhere else to go. He then gave me some clothes and I changed into an emerald green satin blouse with some blue skinny jeans. Then they showed to work a microwave, TV, radio, shower and how the fridge worked as well as many other electronics and appliances. It was pretty amazing.

''So are you going to be okay for a while?'' Asked Alice concerned.

''Sure, don't worry about me go and get your daughter back'' I said smiling.

She grabbed Jefferson's hand and asked him: ''Shall we?''

To which he replied: ''Let's.'' Then they both left out the door hand in hand.

Once they left I turned on the TV. It was set on a music channel. I listened to it. It was fun, when they repeated the words I sang along and it was great. After a little while I was getting hungry so I went in the kitchen and made myself a veggie pate sandwich with some water. Once I was done I did my dishes and decided to try the shower.

I turned it on then I stepped in. Not even 10 seconds after entering, I fell to the floor with my mermaid tail instead of legs. Well didn't see that one coming. I put the plug at the bottom of the tub and took a bath instead. Once I was done bathing and washing, I got out with quite some difficulties and waited for my tail to dry. When it was dry I got dressed, brushed my teeth and went straight to bed. Tomorrow I'll probably meet Grace and I'll see if I can hang out with Anna oh and maybe I'll go for a swim… With those thoughts I fell asleep.


End file.
